The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
Everyday cosmetic and cleaning products contain huge quantities of plastic particles, which are released to the environment and could be harmful to marine life, according to a new study. Research at Plymouth University has shown almost 100,000 tiny ‘microbeads’ – each a fraction of a millimetre in diameter – could …
FUKUSHIMA – Fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday approved a plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to take contaminated groundwater continuously flowing into the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and dump it into the ocean after removing almost all radioactive materials from it. The plan is one of Tepco’s …
Stretches of Waikiki’s white sands and blue waters were deserted on Tuesday after officials warned that heavy rains had triggered a sewage spill of half a million gallons (1.9m liters) near Hawaii’s best-known tourist district. Dozens of tourists still waded into the water, and young parents carried their toddlers into …
Studies have shown ‘high levels of extinction risk in local marine populations’ thanks to human impact and climate change. Species native to the Great Barrier Reef are more likely to face extinction through climate change than marine life elsewhere that can adapt by “invading” new regions, according to new research. …
A Canadian biotech company claims to have developed a commercial-scale biodegradable replacement for the harmful synthetic microbeads found in many beauty products. TerraVerdae BioWorks, announced today (Monday 24 August) it had carried out a 10,000 litre production run for its microbead replacement, which it developed with funding from Innovate UK. …
It turns out that warming oceans may have a major impact on the global distribution of marine biodiversity. Researchers have taken a closer look at what climate change might mean for reefs. It turns out that a rapidly warming climate may cause many species to expand into new regions. This, …
Researchers returned on Sunday from mapping and sampling a massive swirling cluster of trash floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as the Dutch-borne crew works to refine a clean-up strategy it will roll out globally. The crew of the Ocean Cleanup, backed by volunteers in sailboats, ventured to …
The conservation group attacked by the Abbott government after its legal challenge to Australia’s largest proposed coalmine had its taxpayer funding more than doubled by the former Queensland Liberal National party government. Mackay Conservation Group, whose federal court action led to the commonwealth conceding its approval of Adani’s Carmichael mine …
Queensland mining minister set to announce Abbot Point environmental impact statement complete, putting Adani closer to submitting plan to Greg Hunt The latest version of Adani’s controversial plan to dredge in Great Barrier Reef waters to expand its Queensland coal port is poised to go before federal environment minister Greg …
It turns out that we may soon experience the "end" of our world's oceans. Scientists have found that even optimistic estimates for what might be achieved at December's Climate Chance Conference will not be enough to save the world's coral reefs. The aim for the COP21 climate conference is to …
Five million litres of sewage leaked into Botany Bay after a power outage on Friday, Sydney Water has revealed. The leak occurred when a high-voltage powerline malfunctioned, causing Cronulla's waste-water pumping station to lose power and discharge sewage into the water at the southern end of Woolooware Bay. As well …
Coral reefs are doomed even if COP21 talks are a success(Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland) Coral reefs, as they were 50 years ago, will not be found anywhere on Earth by the middle of the century, an expert has warned. Professor Peter F Sale, from …
Environmentalists are urging Canada's Conservative government not to loosen rules involving a substance used for treating oil spills in water, citing research questioning its ecological impact. The oil dispersant, Corexit EC9500A, was deployed during the deadly Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had …
This is the first ever digital map of the Earth's seafloor, revealing deep ocean basins to be much more complex than previously thought. The last complete map was hand-drawn in the 1970s. But now, following half a century of research collating around 15,000 samples from research ships, the University of …
Oceanographers are studying whether climate change is contributing to an unprecedented bloom of toxic algae that spans the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada, raising health concerns and leading to multimillion-dollar income losses from closed fisheries. The bloom, which emerged in May, stretches thousands of miles from the …
A SWISS trimaran on a round-the-world voyage aimed at raising awareness about plastic pollution in the oceans has docked at Shanghai, its only stop in China. Trimaran “Race for Water Odyssey” with her crew of six berthed at the International Cruise Terminal Station in Hongkou District on Wednesday evening, her …
California water quality regulators have asked state Attorney General Kamala Harris to consider enforcement action against the owner of an oil pipeline that ruptured near Santa Barbara in May, spilling petroleum onto beaches and the Pacific Ocean. The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board said on Monday that it …
The biggest advanced economies are meeting in Berlin this week to agree on concrete measures to reduce masses of plastic waste clogging the world’s oceans. The Group of Seven nations will hold talks with industry officials, scientists and environmental activists for three days starting Monday to discuss prevention and clean-up, …
If carbon levels are limited and we manage coral reefs well, they could grow vertically and maintain pace with rising sea levels. At least, researchers from Florida Institute of Technology say that could very likely happen, and they recently reported their findings in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The …
Question raised in Lok Sabha on eco-system services, 04/08/2015. The Government of India has taken various steps to improve and increase the forest and tree cover, which will contribute to enhanced production of ecosystem services from forests. These include schemes such as National Afforestation Programme, National Mission for Green India, …
